Thursday, February 25, 2010

The blast erupted near the Safi Landmark Hotel in the neighborhood of Shahr-E-Naw, where there are a number of government buildings and U.N. offices as well as supermarkets, banks, diplomatic facilities and villas for well-to-do Afghans.The force of the first explosion -- which struck about 6:30 a.m. (9 p.m. Thursday ET) was so strong that it shook CNN correspondent Ben Wedeman awake, he said."We saw smoke rising over the area and heard a fair amount of gunfire -- automatic and single shot," he said from north-central Kabul.

The blast erupted near the Safi Landmark Hotel in the neighborhood of Shahr-E-Naw, where there are a number of government buildings and U.N. offices.

A few minutes later, a second large explosion occurred, he said. Sporadic gunfire was continuing, he said.Afghan police blocked off roads leading to the area. Windows were shattered in nearby buildings.